• 01 Jul 2022

Brihad Loan Mela

Why in News?

• On June 30, 2022, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the Brihad Loan Mela at a function held at Lok Bhawan.

Key Points

• On this occasion, the Chief Minister handed over symbolic checks of loans given to 9 handicraftsmen, artisans and entrepreneurs.
• Under this program of mega loan fair organized in all 75 districts, 1 lakh 90 thousand beneficiary handicraftsmen of 'Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme', 'Prime Minister Mudra Yojana', 'Chief Minister Youth Self Employment Scheme', 'One District One Product Financing Scheme' etc. 16 thousand crore loans were disbursed to artisans and entrepreneurs.
• On this occasion, the Chief Minister released the Annual Loan Scheme of Rs.2.95 lakh crore for the year 2022-23 and inaugurated the Common Facility Centers set up in 5 districts- Agra, Ambedkarnagar, Sitapur, Azamgarh, Siddharth Nagar under 'One District One Product Scheme' during the program.
• With the establishment of Common Facility Center, handicraftsmen, artisans, entrepreneurs of 'One District One Product Scheme' will get an opportunity to connect with modern technology. This will improve the quality of the products and increase the income.
• An MoU was exchanged between Additional Chief Secretary MSME Navneet Sehgal and Amazon VP Policy Chetan Krishna Swamy during the program before the Chief Minister. Under this, Amazon will help small units in exporting their products. Amazon is working to digitize small units. For this, a digital centre is being set up by Amazon in Kanpur. This will be the second centre set up by Amazon in the country after Surat in the state of Gujarat.
• It is known that Amazon's digital center has been launched in Kanpur. Through this center, MSME handicraftsmen, artisans, entrepreneurs will be facilitated in marketing their products in the country and abroad.
• Apart from this, self-help centres have been started in 35 districts of the state in collaboration with SIDBI. These centres will do the work of hand holding of new entrepreneurs. In future, these centres will be established in all the districts of the state.
• Addressing the program, the Chief Minister said that the program of the Brihad Loan Fair is part of the 100-day action plan of the MSME department. The availability of credit to MSME entrepreneurs will accelerate economic activities. This will give employment to the youth. Also, the C.D. ratio of banks will also increase.
• It may be mentioned that on January 24, 2018, 'One District One Product Scheme' was implemented. At present, the scheme is giving a new identity by making Uttar Pradesh a hub of exports. In the year 2016, the exports from the state used to be about 80 thousand crore rupees, which has now increased to 1. 56 lakh crores. At present, the state's unemployment rate is less than 3 percent.
• The MSME Minister said that a loan of Rs 2 lakh 12 thousand 934 crore has been disbursed by the state government under the Annual Credit Scheme 2020-21 . Credit of Rs 83,061 crore has been disbursed to the MSME sector, which is 11.5 percent relative to the annual target. Under the Annual Credit Scheme 2022-23, a loan disbursement target of Rs 2.95 lakh crore has been set.

Biggest Fiscal Deficit in Bihar

Why in News?

• According to the CAG report tabled in the House on the last day of the monsoon session of the Bihar Assembly on June 30, 2022, Bihar recorded a fiscal deficit of Rs 29 thousand 827 crore in the financial year 2020-21.

Key Points

• This report is for the financial year ended March 31, 2021. According to the report, the fiscal deficit of Bihar has increased by Rs 15,103 crore to Rs 29,827 crore as compared to last year. Not only this, the state has suffered a revenue loss of more than Rs 11,325 crore for the first time since 2004-05.
• According to the report, due to the increase in tax, the financial year 2020-21 recorded an increase of Rs 3,936 crore (3.17 percent) in revenue receipts over the previous year. This year, revenue expenditure has increased by Rs 13,476 crore (10.69 percent) mainly on account of increase in committed expenditure.
• According to the report, till March 2021, the Nitish government has not submitted utilization certificates worth Rs 92,687 crore. The CAG in its report has said that the pendency of high quantity of utilization certificates increases the risk of misuse of funds and fraud. Non-adjustment of advance amount can be fraud.
• According to the report, the Bihar government has neither created a guarantee redemption fund as per the recommendations of the 12^th Finance Commission nor made any rules for determining the limits of guarantees.

Karauli District Honored for Excellent Work in MSME Sector

Why in News?

• At the Entrepreneur India event held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on June 30, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured Karauli district of Rajasthan for being ranked second in the category of 'Aspirational District'.

Key Points

• Out of the 26 categories of awards given for outstanding work in the field of MSMEs, Rajasthan captured 4 different categories.
• PM holds discussion with Handicapped winner Sunita Gupta. Ashok Pareek and Anita Lunia were also honored for their outstanding work in various categories.
• Rajasthan's Industries Minister Shakuntala Rawat said that due to the change in the MSME policy, no industrialist will now have to take NOC from various departments for 3 to 5 years to set up industries.
• The industries minister said that Invest Rajasthan Summit-2022 would be organized on 7-8 October, through which investments would be made by various companies in the state. This will not only give impetus to industrial development in the state, but employment opportunities will also be created for the youth.
• Sirohi, Dholpur, Jaisalmer and Karauli districts of the state have been selected under the 'Aspirational District' program, out of which Karauli district has secured the second position for its best work.
• The 'Aspirational Districts' program is an ambitious scheme of the Government of India through which progressive districts of the country are selected for their outstanding work in a particular region.

Task Force Submitted Report to Chief Minister

Why in News?

• On June 30, 2022, the head of the task force set up to reduce maternal and child mortality in Madhya Pradesh, Prof. Shamika Ravi submitted the final report to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Key Points

• It is worth mentioning that the Government of Madhya Pradesh has been in the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. The task force was constituted in the month of January last under the chairmanship of Shamika Ravi. The task force has submitted the report on the scheduled period of June 30.
• Implementation of the recommendations of this report of the Task Force will help in reducing the mortality rate of mothers and infants.
• NITI Aayog has placed Madhya Pradesh in the category of good performing states in the SDG India Index report, which is a sign of good work has been done in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of health in Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh took special initiative by forming a task force as compared to other states.
• The report of the Task Force consists of seven chapters. These include the role of nutrition, monitoring of health data, study of health care and resources, improvement in the care of infants and mothers, current status and background, expenditure on health and improvement in this sector through good governance and other measures are included.
• The Report also contains suggestions relating to elimination of malnutrition among children and addressing the shortage of physical infrastructure and resources for better outcomes in the field of maternal and child welfare, infant supplements, regular immunization, prevention of diseases, expansion of blood bank facilities, referral system for newborns and transportation facility.
• Apart from this, the efforts of the Madhya Pradesh government to provide malnutrition, health education and rituals to the children of Anganwadi centres and the campaign run by the people's cooperation under the leadership of the Chief Minister are mentioned.
• The maternal mortality rate in Madhya Pradesh is declining at a rate of 5.8 percent, while the national average is 7.5 percent. Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh, the infant mortality rate is declining at a rate of 0.6%, while the national average rate is 3.8%.
• The Task Force has identified 5 key areas to achieve the goals in the field of maternal and child health, which are as under:
  • Regular review at governance level: Regular review is useful in eliminating the shortcomings to improve the overall system of public healthcare in Madhya Pradesh.
  • Physical Infrastructure and Resources: This Report provides one such roadmap. This includes reforms such as ending preventable maternal mortality frameworks and packages along with the India Newborn Action Plan. The report also analyses the availability of resources as per the population.
  • Nutrition: The report states that malnutrition has a negative impact on the health of mothers and babies. The anemia is worrying. Efforts should be made to bring good results by intervening as per the suggestion of UNICEF for the determinants of malnutrition. Along with the consumption of well-nourished diet, the emphasis is on prevention of diseases through vaccination, food security, complementary feeding system and related publicity.
  • Finance Arrangements: The report on expenditure incurred in the health sector by Madhya Pradesh has advised to increase the assistance to the lower strata of the society, financial assistance for OPD care in the form of family health account. The report also suggests creation of a Health Outcome Fund.
  • Data access: The report highlights the need for data entry, backend validation and timely identification of problems in improving the data architecture. Anmol, Samagra, Contact and Nutrition Tracker; All these data are portal guidelines. With these, the state government is using data to secure the health and nutrition services provided to the beneficiaries and use it to ensure the accessibility of the schemes. The present challenges of data systems have also been highlighted in the report.
• The Task Force has made specific recommendations for various reforms, which ensure better public services for civic health and nutrition.

Haryana Got Third Place in 'MSME National Award'

Why in News?

• At the Udyami-Bharat event held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on June 30, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi honored Haryana for its outstanding work done in the field of MSMEs for being ranked third in the country.

Key Points

• Haryana is included in the top 3 states of the country in the field of MSME. Two MSMEs of Haryana have also received awards in the program. Among these, Dr. Harjinder Kaur Talwar got the first prize in the Small Service Enterprise in the Women's category and Rishabh Gupta got the third position in the Overall category of Manufacturing Micro Enterprise.
• Speaking on the occasion, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said that MSMEs have made a special contribution in the economic development of Haryana. There are about 9.7 lakh MSMEs in the state, which is the backbone of the growing economy.
• Dushyant Chautala said that the Haryana government has set up a dedicated department 'Directorate of MSME' to support MSMEs in various sectors, which has made it easier to reach the market, technology and skilled workers.
• The Deputy Chief Minister informed that Haryana has launched a program of its kind 'Padma' following the principle of 'Vocal for Global', the main objective of which is to create a dynamic, self-reliant and thriving industrial infrastructure at the block level.
• He said that apart from emphasizing on the MSE-CDP scheme of the Government of India, Haryana has also come out with a first-of-its-kind 'State Mini Cluster Scheme'. So far, 9 clusters costing Rs.140 crore have been sanctioned from Haryana under the MSE-CDP scheme. Out of this, an assistance of Rs.58 crores has been given from the Government of India.
• Under the State Mini Cluster Development Scheme, various initiatives of 43 MSME clusters worth more than Rs.119 crore have been taken up in the state. More than 8,000 MSMEs in Haryana have been benefited by these extensive cluster development efforts of the state government.

State Ease of Doing Business

Why in News?

• Haryana has been included in the top achievers category in the fifth edition of 'State Ease of Doing Business' released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on June 30, 2022. Apart from Haryana, the top achievers category includes Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

Key Points

• Vijayendra Kumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Industry and Commerce, said that the Department constituted for the Motion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has ranked the States and Union Territories (UTs) on the basis of implementation of corrective steps and feedback.
• He said that the action plan for the year 2020 included 301 improvement points in 15 areas. Haryana has achieved a score of 99+ percentile in the implementation of these reforms. Apart from this, the state has been ranked first in Export Readiness Index (Land Closed Category)-2021 and second in 'Logistics is Across Different Status Survey-2021'.
• The state government has taken several major steps to improve the investment climate in the state, with the new industrial policy 'Haryana Enterprise and Employment Policy, 2020' being special. The policy aims to create 5 lakh jobs in the state, attract investment of over Rs 1 lakh crore and double exports to Rs 2 lakh crore.
• 100 state laws (Acts, Rules and Guidelines) were re-evaluated in the state, creating an investment-friendly environment in the state.
• Several investment proposals of national and international repute, such as Maruti, Fivelay, Grasim Paints, ATL Batteries, Aarti Green Tech Ltd., Amperex Technologies Ltd., Enrich Agro Food Products, etc. have shown interest in Haryana.
• Vijayendra Kumar informed that due to the commitment of the Haryana government to provide a conducive ecosystem to the industries, Haryana got excellent ranking in ease of doing business, ease of logistics and export readiness.

Smart Auto-Irrigation and Soil Monitoring System

Why in News?

• On June 30, 2022, Scientist Seema Singh of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dhanbad informed that IIT (ISM), Dhanbad has launched a new smart auto-irrigation to motivate and engage agriculture and farming for distressed families of farmers affected by COVID-19. and has developed upgradation of soil monitoring system.

Key Points

• It was demonstrated by the IIT, (ISM) Dhanbad research team at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Dhanbad on June 30, 2022. The project has been set up at KVK, Dhanbad.
• The project is part of IEEE HAC (Committee on Humanitarian Activities) and IEEE SIGHT (Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology) with an institute in selected developing countries to improve the current COVID-19 situation.
• The focus has been on running this new advanced system and developing it as a permanent source of income. This newly upgraded system will benefit the farmers.
• Scientist Seema Singh said the project will help farmers or Covid-19 migrants who are less skilled at farming in a more efficient way of irrigation.
• The proposed system has been designed to remove unnecessary water runoff in agricultural land using sprinkler system. The readings of temperature, wind speed, sunshine intensity, soil moisture, air moisture and pH are continuously monitored using sensors. Solar panels have been used to supply power to the system, which will make it more durable.
• It is easily managed by an Android application developed by the students, which will be available on Google Play Store under the name 'AgroPro 2.0'. The interface is designed for minimal use, with easy-to-use interfaces most functions are automated, which do not require human intervention.
• The new system is cost effective and can be easily afforded by the farmer. The cost of maintenance is also very low. The system comes with many features, including automatic irrigation, control through multi-language Android app, farmer-irrigation assistance 24×7 monitoring, etc.

Women Empowerment

Why in News?

• Recently, the aspirational district of Chhattisgarh, Rajnandgaon, has been included by NITI Aayog as one of the leading districts for women empowerment and doing best work towards their interest.

Key Points

• In view of the excellent work done in the district, the Collector has been invited by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development to attend the zonal meeting organized in Ranchi on the theme 'Impact on Women and Children'.
• It may be mentioned that under the leadership of District Collector Taran Prakash Sinha, Gothan in Rajnandgaon district is being developed as Rural Industrial Park. In order to make women self-reliant, they are being encouraged to become self-reliant by working in gothan.
• The women associated with the group are making various products like Papad, Badi, Pickle, Spices at the local level, which are being supplied to schools, Anganwadi centers and hostels.
• In order to make the women of the group self-reliant, loans have been provided to them, which has given them employment. The sale of local products through C-Mart and Gothan complex is being strengthened. At the same time, the shop is being constructed and sold in the railway station.
• Continuous work is being done by Anganwadi workers in the district for the betterment of the health of anaemic adolescent girls, pregnant women and other women. Door-to-door awareness is being made for women's health, nutrition and education.
• Workshops related to physical, mental and social development of adolescent girls are being organized in rural areas. Information on the life and motherhood of the newlyweds is being provided with information about their future life and motherhood, as well as the working system of the Self Help Groups (SHGs) about various schemes to make them financially viable.
• Under 'Pradhan Mantri Matrivandana Yojana', 125 percent target has been achieved in the district Availability of nutritious food has been ensured under 'Mukhyamantri Suposhan Yojana' and 'Mahatari Jatan Yojana'.
• Information about locally available food and nutritious food is being provided through nutrition fairs, competitions related to nutritious cuisines and other programmes.
• In order to remove anemia in adolescent girls and women aged 15 to 49 years, necessary medicines (iron, folic acid) are being made available in coordination with the health department for anemia test and if found anemic. Coordinating with the police department for drug prohibition in the district, the women of the group are working consciously under the 'Nijat Abhiyan'.

Chhattisgarh Created a Record in Collecting Rice

Why in News?

• Recently, Chhattisgarh has deposited more than 50 lakh metric tonnes of rice in the Food Corporation of India and Civil Supplies Corporation by the end of June, creating a new record in the matter of depositing rice in the central pool.

Key Points

• As a result of the farmer friendly policies and visionary decisions of the State Government, Chhattisgarh has also set a new record in terms of lifting of paddy from the committees and depositing of rice in the Central Pool after setting the record for highest procurement of paddy in the State in Kharif 2021-22.
• With a record procurement of 97.99 lakh mt of paddy at support price in kharif marketing year 2021-22, for the first time in the state, 100 percent of paddy lifting from procurement centers was completed in the month of April-May itself. Apart from this, about 22.90 lakh metric tonnes of paddy stored in the collection centers has also been lifted 100 percent in the pre-rainy month of June.
• It is noteworthy that out of 97.99 lakh metric tonnes of paddy procured in the Kharif marketing year 2021-22, 75.03 lakh metric tonnes of paddy (about 77 percent) were lifted directly from the procurement centres by the millers, while the paddy procured in the Kharif marketing year 2018-19 was 58 percent, 61 percent of the paddy procured in the year 2019-20 and 62 percent of the paddy procured in the year 2020-21 were lifted directly by the millers from the procurement centres.
• Due to record lifting of paddy by millers directly from procurement centers in Kharif marketing year 2021-22, transportation expenditure, quantity of dryness and cost of protection and maintenance of paddy have also come down as compared to previous years.
• As a result of the system and practical policies for paddy lifting and custom milling by the state government, not only timely lifting of paddy was ensured, but custom milling took place rapidly, due to which the state has achieved remarkable success in harvesting rice.
• So far, about 25.74 lakh metric tonnes in Food Corporation of India and about 24.35 lakh metric tonnes in Civil Supplies Corporation, thus totaling 50.09 lakh metric tonnes of rice has been deposited.
• It is noteworthy that in the year 2020-21 till the end of June, 36.56 lakh metric tonnes of rice was deposited. The quantity of rice deposited this year is about 13.44 lakh metric tonnes more than last year. Rice deposit work is going on continuously in Food Corporation of India and Civil Supplies Corporation.